1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to computer-aided design and manufacturing, and more particularly to systems, methods, apparatuses, and computer-readable storage media for designing and manufacturing custom dental preparation guides, such as dental drill guides, for prosthetic dental items, such as inlays, onlays, bridges, crowns, and veneers.
2. Description of Related Art
Conventionally, a dental restoration procedure for restoring a damaged tooth has been performed by a dental professional preparing one or more surfaces of the damaged tooth structure (e.g., a tooth stump) by removing tooth decay therefrom, preparing the damaged tooth structure to be attached to the prosthetic dental item by drilling into one or more portions of the damaged tooth structure, and then attaching the prosthetic dental item to the damaged tooth structure. The dental profession can use one or more guides, such as reduction copings, to help ensure that certain portions of the damaged tooth structure are drilled into shapes having predetermined dimensions that are suitable for attaching the prosthetic dental item. For example, a reduction coping can be used to reduce a length of a tooth stump to ensure that, once the prosthetic dental item is attached to the tooth stump, proper clearance between the tooth preparation and occlusion is achieved. Because such guides typically are prepared based upon general guidelines, these guides are not customized for a particular clinical scenario of a particular dental restoration.
Computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) technologies can be employed to design and manufacture customized drill guides that can be superior to conventionally designed and manufactured drill guides. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,006 discloses a method of producing a drill assistance device for a tooth implant using CAD/CAM technologies.
According to the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,319,006, an x-ray picture of a jaw bone is taken and corresponding data is compiled and recorded. Then, three-dimensional, optical measurements of visible surfaces of the jaw bone and attached teeth are performed and corresponding data is compiled and recorded. Data from the x-ray picture is correlated with data from the optical measurements. Using the correlated data, a size and a shape of an implant are planned, a position of the implant relative to adjacent teeth is planned, and a corresponding drill template is produced. The drill template includes a guide hole through which a drill bit of a dental drill can be inserted. After the drill template is attached to teeth adjacent an implant site, a portion of the drill bit is inserted through the guide hole in the drill template, and an implant pilot hole is drilled into the jaw bone at a predetermined location and at a predetermined angle relative to the jaw bone. Using this method, a precise location and orientation of the implant pilot hole in the jaw bone can specified, and the drill template can be used to ensure that the implant pilot hole is drilled at the specified location and at the specified orientation.
The drill template, however, is useful only for guiding the dental drill to drill the implant hole; it is not useful for guiding the dental drill to prepare surfaces of tooth stump for receiving complimentary mating surfaces of a prosthetic dental item. Accordingly, a method of using CAD/CAM technologies to design and manufacture a customized dental preparation guide having a specified connection geometry (e.g., a specified size and a specified shape) for preparing surfaces of a tooth stump is needed.